My mom is the BEST soup maker I know. Her lentil soup with smoke sausage and spaetzle is one of my favorite foods. EVER. My sister also makes pretty great soups. I have not inherited the soup gene, but I did manage to create a soup from scratch today that in the words of my brother “Was AWESOME!”
Next time, I’ll make a few changes, which I’ll indicate in the recipe.

I package ground chicken (ground turkey will also work really well here)
1 packet taco seasoning (once I find a really good recipe, I’ll be making my own. I don’t care for all the salt and questionable items in this stuff, but for now, use it)
1T olive oil
1 vidalia onion – chopped
4 cloves garlic – chopped
8oz button mushrooms – chopped
1 jalapeno -chopped (ribs and seeds removed)
1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilies – I used original and almost burned my mouth to death, I’ll be using Mild from now on, but if you’re not a wimp, you can use the original)
1/2t salt
1/4t pepper
32 oz of reduced sodium chicken broth
1 can of black beans – drained and rinsed quickly
2 avocados
2 limes

First note:
I mixed half the seasoning packet into the chicken with about 3/4 c cilantro and made mini meatballs (roughly 24). Baked in the oven at 350 for 35 mins. Then I added them to the soup for the last 20 mins of cook time BUT the texture of the meatballs was off. Jason said they were “boingy” and I’ll try the next batch with browning the meat and mixing the packet in like regular tacos. (The key is to make sure you get equal amounts of meat in the servings.)

How To:

In your soup pot heat 1T olive oil over medium heat.
Brown meat with taco seasoning packet
Add onion, garlic, mushrooms, jalapenos and Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilies) and salt and pepper
Cook a few minutes until all the veggies are soft.
Reduce heat to low.
Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Add the drained black beans and stir.
Cook for another 20-30 minutes. (This is really a “simmer while you do other things recipe.” It can take as little as 30 minutes or you can drag it out for as long as 45ish)

Heat oven to 350 – Spray 6 mini corn tortillas or 3 regular sized ones with cooking spray. Cut into strips and lay on a tinfoil covered sheet pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes (WATCH THEM!). Divide into 6 portions and top each bowl of soup with the baked chips. (You can do this ahead of time, possibly a day.)